Skinwalker
Nightmares born from Native American lore and tradition, Skinwalkers are known as some of the evilest creatures to be encountered and are kin to the Nunnehi.
These Thallain gain power from truly despicable acts, and only by completing one will they come into their true selves. Drawn toward such awful things as murder, cannibalism, or incest, they leave most of their humanity behind when they come into their power.
Skinwalkers are solitary, nocturnal creatures. They are easily identified as something other than human, even by mortals, and while changelings may not be able to pinpoint exactly what these creatures are, they can easily see that they are not friendly. Even other Thallain have little love for these creatures that make little to no effort to hide what they truly are.
In giving up their humanity in exchange for power, skinwalkers learn the practice of creating tokens. After slaughtering an animal, they may take and enchant a piece of it and use it as a focus to shift into that same form. They always have one they favor most; the favored form of many skinwalkers is an apex predator, something that can easily dominate both humans and animals alike. When the skinwalker is not in his animal form, these tokens can be lost, stolen, or destroyed the same as any mundane object. However, only another skinwalker can activate the tokens and use their power. For this reason, skinwalkers are usually hermits, and jealously guard whatever tokens they have. While they may collect as many as they wish, only a handful of them can be carried at a time. These may be swapped out as often as the skinwalker wishes, provided they are willing to go retrieve them.
Appearance
Skinwalkers are most common among those of Native American descent. Typically, skinwalkers are men; they are hairy individuals, and have an unhealthy, almost starved appearance. Their eyes are wild and whatever musculature they have is too clear under skin that seems stretched too tight over their bodies. In their fae mien, their eyes glow red, and the tokens they carry imbue them with touches of those animals; as such, their appearance is more fluid than most others.
Endowments
- Token: After killing an animal, a skinwalker can take a piece of it — a feather, a claw, or a swatch of skin or fur — and enchant it to make a token. After it is enchanted, it can be activated with a point of Glamour; the skinwalker takes the form of the animal. He can maintain this form until sunrise. The number of tokens a skinwalker can have is equal to his permanent Glamour rating.
- Inhuman: After a skinwalker creates his first token, he gains an extra dot in all his Physical Attributes.
Vulnerability
- Dependent: If he does not have any tokens on his person, a skinwalker loses access to both his Endowments.
